1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed at measuring and recording the conditions inside a chamber containing a mixture of cloth items and fluid. The invention has particular utility in characterizing the motion of cloth items in an automatic washing machine, and providing information to help understand the mechanisms at work driving that motion.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of clothes washing machine technology, new machines are being designed to increase electrical efficiency, reduce water consumption, and improve cleaning effectiveness. These improvements require a significant departure from current technology, and considerable effort is underway to design new machines.
In the washing machine design process, reliable measurement and observation of the conditions inside the wash chamber provide important information about the effect of various configurations, features, operational parameters, and settings of the washing machine. This information may allow the designer to use a closed-loop iterative approach in which design changes are based on reliable measured and observed effects.
In many washing machine design environments, direct visual observation is used, along with some basic measurement of fluid flows, rotational speed, power, timing, and cleaning performance. However, there is currently no method in widespread use to accurately measure the circulation of cloth items and fluids and driving forces of cloth items and fluid in an automatic washing machine. Although some methods to measure the circulation and driving forces exist, the known methods provide limited information, disturb the operation of the machine, or otherwise modify the parameters it is desired to measure. A method and apparatus that could measure the circulation and driving forces without significantly disturbing the operation would be a valuable complementary tool in the design process because it would provide more information to the designer about the nature of the physical processes taking place in the wash chamber.